WASHINGTON, D.C. — A man now known to be the father of a suspected anti-Israel terrorist was once honored by a prominent Democratic congressman, who brought him as a guest to President Trump’s joint address to Congress just months before his son allegedly gunned down two Israeli diplomats in the heart of the nation’s capital.

Eric Rodriguez, a Veterans Affairs employee and Iraq War veteran, was welcomed to Washington in March by Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García (D-Ill.), who praised him publicly as a model citizen and a voice for working-class causes. What García failed to mention then — and insists he didn’t know — was Rodriguez’s family ties to a man now accused of one of the most disturbing acts of politically motivated violence in recent D.C. memory.

Rodriguez’s son, Elias, was arrested and charged Thursday with the point-blank execution of two young Israeli Embassy staffers, Yaron Lischinsky, 28, and Sarah Milgrim, 26, just outside the Capital Jewish Museum. Authorities say he fired more than 20 rounds, shouted “Free Palestine” as he was taken into custody, and left Milgrim attempting to crawl for her life before dying on the pavement.

Despite the horrifying nature of the crime, Democrats who once used Rodriguez Sr. as a symbol of their pro-worker messaging are now scrambling to distance themselves.

García’s office released a statement claiming, “We don’t know his family,” but critics argue that this reflects a broader pattern among progressive lawmakers — putting symbolism ahead of substance, and politics ahead of accountability.

In March, García had praised Rodriguez Sr. as someone who “fights every day to protect the dignity of working people,” and used his presence at Trump’s speech as a political statement against what he called the weaponization of veterans and workers.

Rodriguez also appeared in a union-produced video warning about Trump-era policies affecting the VA, saying he was in Washington out of concern for what Trump and “Elon Musk and DOGE” were allegedly doing to veterans’ services.

Now, that same veteran is in the spotlight for a very different reason — not because of anything he did, but because his son, whom federal officials describe as a radicalized anti-Israel extremist, brought deadly violence to a peaceful event in Washington.

The association is politically toxic for García and embarrassing for Democrats who have repeatedly been accused of turning a blind eye to rising antisemitism in their ranks. The party has spent years aligning with activist movements that often blur the line between criticism of Israeli policy and open hostility toward the Jewish state — a stance that critics now say is fueling dangerous extremism.

Congressman García eventually issued a condemnation of the attack, calling it “horrible” and “senseless,” but stopped short of addressing how his own political judgment contributed to the uncomfortable proximity between a Democratic lawmaker and the family of an alleged terrorist.

For many, the question now isn’t just about the shooter — but about the political culture that created space for his ideology to thrive.